Carsten Sönnichsen, born 1973 in Hamburg (Germany),

studied physics in Hamburg and Cambridge. In 2001, he received his Ph.D. from the Ludwig-Maximilians University (LMU) in Munich, Germany (working for Jochen Feldmann). Following his experience in an international management consulting in Munich, Germany, he joined the Paul Alivisatos group in Berkeley as a postdoc. In 2005, he started his own group at the University of Mainz where he now holds a chair in physical chemistry. The group emphasizes on the production and application of nanoparticles as markers and sensors for biological molecules, optical single particle spectroscopy and electron microscopy.

The work was funded by an ERC starting grant.